An exploration space mission crash-lands on a distant planet. Years after the crash, a war is in effect. Descendents of the humans are outgunned and outnumbered by the natives. Will a new weapon save them from annihilation?

Those ignorant
fools… those blubbering idiotic simpletons… in all the world
Aeka had never seen such stupidity. The humans, as they called
themselves, were planning their attack strategy right in front of
her. After all, it wasn't like she could become invisible at will.
Even with all their security measures and cautionary tactics, the
bafoons still neglected to look up. There she clung to the
rafters, listening to their petty strategies of war against her and
her kind. A balding man dressed in the midnight blue colors of the
United Territories stood up to address the long table at which ten
other officers, including himself, were sitting in near darkness. The
light above the table swayed as he got up.

"My friends," he said, his jowls,
very much like those of a bulldog, quivering, "as you know our past
efforts to combat the enemy have been unsuccessful thus far. Our
weapons are inferior to theirs, as are our numbers. Our chances of
winning this war seem all but impossible…"

Aeka grinned, baring her small,
dagger-like teeth. Ah, it seems humans aren't as stupid as they
look. Murmuring broke out among the other nine people at the table.
The Bulldog raised his hand for silence.

"However, recent breakthroughs in
our research of the enemy have revealed a possible weak point that
may yet save us from annihilation," he continued.

Her grin faded. What was this? How
could humans, with their inferior intelligence and technology,
possibly find even the smallest flaw in her kind's military
offensive? What could the humans possibly possess that they could not
thwart?

A bearded man on the left side of the
table spoke. "A weak point? Where? How? Have we developed a new
weapon against them?"

The Bulldog returned the man's eager
stare with his own cold gaze. "The research is not yet complete, so
I cannot disclose that information, Lieutenant. However, based on the
data retrieved from tests done on our POWs, our scientists are
optimistic that this discovery may just turn the tides in our favor."
Damn. "Unfortunately," he went on, " the resources we will need
for a full-scale offensive currently lie in enemy territory, meaning
that in order for us to win this war, we must win those resources
using our current ingenuity and skill."

A spiky haired red-headed woman from
the end of the table said, "How can we expect to win these
resources over with our current capabilities when past examples have
shown how inferior we are to their military powers? Any mission into
enemy territory you propose is suicidal at best." The Bulldog shook
his head, ma"Our soldiers will carry a prototype of the weapon with
them when research is complete. If all goes well, we'll have
successfully field-tested the weapon and procured the resources
necessary and in this way killed two birds with one stone."

"And if they should fail," a
scarred and wizened man said from his right hand, "what then?"

The Bulldog lowered his head. "Then
we fight to the last. Surrender is not an option… those bastards've
made that painfully clear. We'll fight until the last man falls
dead on the pile of soldiers that fell before him defending our
homeland, and we will not cower, we will not run, and we will not!
Back! DOWN!!!" Aeka rolled her eyes as the other members of the
board applauded and cheered their general. He spoke bold words, but
if her experience with humans had shown her anything it was that he
would forget those false promises when faced with his demise. He
would quake with fear… they all would. She waited until all the men
and women at the table filed out and the light had been turned off
before she came down from her perch, her sleek azure body landing
softly on the wood grain, tendons absorbing the shock of impact
without protest. They had no chance, she thought, we are superior to
them in every way… physically, mentally, militarily… no amount of
empty words would save them from their fate. She grinned her pointed
grin again. No matter how powerful this new "weapon" would turn
out to be, her kind would best it and make it obsolete. The stupid
humans should never have entered into this war in the first place…
should never have entered into their territory without consent…
never expanded without approval.

They were such greedy beasts, these
hairless apes, insatiable in their desires for more. More
land, more water, more resources. It was disgusting how far below her
these creatures were. They were all unclean, sullied with their baser
instincts, their lust… their love. Her kind was above such
petty feelings and wants. They were an evolved species, the pure
embodiment of perfection. The humans had to be eradicated… they
could not be allowed to besmirch her kind, the proud Shi'kal, with
their unworthy presence, dirty their air with their exhalations.
Luckily, the end for the humans was coming much sooner than they
anticipated, even without the information she had come here to find…
soon, they would all be dead and their rotting corpses fed into the
incinerators that powered the mighty cities of the Shi'kal.

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